When I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, my landlords were a lovely couple, probably a little older than I am now. Having been brought up to believe that the confederate flag represented racism, I was shocked to see my landlord sporting a confederate flag on his belt buckle, especially because he was black. I really wanted to ask him what it meant, but they were both my elders and my landlords, and I didn’t want to appear rude, so I kept my curiosity and surprise to myself. What I now understand is that although the Confederate flag has been hi-jacked by racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, for many people, the flag represents something else entirely. I also believe that unless the validity of those things is acknowledged, there will continue to be ideological battle lines drawn, rather than lines of communication opened. I think we can all agree that throughout history, at least since the advent of private property and capitalism, the world has been ruled by the 1%. Some of them have been in power for many generations. The American south was no exception. Only a fraction of people were wealthy enough to own slaves. While there is no denying that all white people were taught by these masters to believe that black people were inferior or less than human to justify enslaving them, not all white people found slavery in any way justifiable. Slavery was not the only issue for which the Civil War was fought. Many people believed that states should be allowed to secede from the union, and that a federal government having too much power would result in tyranny. We all know that most soldiers today become soldiers due to a lack of other economic opportunities. Of course, there are those who fight for principles they hold dear as well. The same was true of civil war soldiers. Not every soldier who fought for the Confederacy was fighting to preserve slavery. Some fought for more noble reasons, such as state’s rights, and yes, democracy. True democracy would have allowed states to secede with a majority of votes. Some fought only when it became necessary to preserve their families’ lives as war raged around them. I firmly believe that any flag flown from a government building, a government that is charged with representing ALL the people, must be approved of by ALL the people. For many, and for good reason, the flag represents the degrading atrocity of slavery and every false belief purposely propagated to justify it. However, I also believe that to continue to insist that it is impossible for the flag to represent something other than racism to some people is unreasonable. It is called the “rebel” flag for a reason, and some take pride that their ancestors fought in rebellion against a government that did not recognize their democratic rights in voting to secede. I believe we must acknowledge that to rebel against the tyranny of authority when the will of the majority is not respected is a noble act worthy of respect. For healing to take place and for past wrongs to be acknowledged and redressed, a social environment of mutual respect and emotional safety must be established. Claiming moral superiority is not conducive to what should be our collective goal of healing the wounds of racism and division within the society in which we all live. Wouldn’t it be far more pleasant if we learned to do so peacefully? I propose a new confederate flag with some sort of feature that would clearly indicate that it is not being flown as a symbol of slavery or racism. Personally, I’d add the word “rebel” to it, but that’s just me because I’m fond of questioning authority. Then, people who fly it for more noble reasons will also feel heard and acknowledged. Isn't that really what we all, as human beings, really need?